History Main / MagicAntidote

* In ''Comicbook/DoctorStrange: The Oath'', one drop of a literally-magic antidote saves Strange's associate Wong from dying of a brain tumor, even though he was so far gone to have fallen unconscious with no pulse and had been kept sort-of-alive by CPR for several minutes.

* In the 2000s ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'':

* Also subverted in ''VideoGame/SuikodenV''. The Hero's Rune has the power to keep Lyon from dying when she gets stabbed and poisoned, but she still has to spend a long time in bed recovering from the damage.
* Used in ''VideoGame/TreasureOfTheRudra'' [[spoiler:Foxy is put into the "Eternal Slumber" by one of the bosses, they need to get a special herb to save her.]]
* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' Copperhead poisons Batman with a supposedly very deadly neuro-toxin, which causes Bats to hallucinate and will supposedly kill him in ten minutes. There is still enough time to have the poison analyzed and a cure synthesized and delivered. Once the cure is taken the hallucinations immediately end and Batman shows no sign of being weakened by the poisoning.
* In games in which there is healing magic, it's very curious that it manages to medically cure stab-wounds (both superficial and serious), magical burns and electrocution, the bodily damage caused by poison, beatings from blunt weapons, etc.\\\
Also, expect all ailments like poison, disease, being afflicted by time in some way, confusion and sleep to be cured instantly if you can find that one right damn thing at the bottom of your items list.
** A Magic Antidote being magical helps with handwaving broadness of applicability, speed of effect and [[NoOntologicalInertia reversal of already done damage]].
** However, it's usually downplayed with poison itself, as many games have the poison status effect do DamageOverTime, and curing the poison doesn't undo the damage it dealt.

* Subverted in ''Dawn of War II'', the mighty Space Marine Captain Davian Thule is poisoned by the Tyrannids and you must develop an antidote. The antidote stops further damage and keeps Thule from dying, but the organ damage done already is so extensive that he must be put in a Dreadnought sarcophagus to survive.
* Subverted in the first ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' when playing as Jill. Jill has to travel halfway through the mansion and back to get a serum for Richard, but Richard dies within minutes of the serum being administered. The massive puncture wounds caused by the giant snake that poisoned him might have had something to do with that, though.
** The rest of the series IS famously liberal with its use of "vaccines".
** Played straight in the remake, where Richard recovers, but later dies in a HeroicSacrifice.
* Averted completely in the VideoGame/{{Resistance}} series. When a vaccine is developed for the Chimera virus, it works ''like an actual vaccine'', needing to be administered beforehand to do any good. When it hasn't? Well, that's when the [[{{Squick}} much more primitive treatments come in...]]

* At one point in ''VideoGame/TheJourneymanProject'' the player is shot with a tranquilizer dart that causes fatigue and dizziness, and death if they try to leave the room. Fortunately, they are able to synthesize an insta-cure antidote in the laboratory.
* In ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker,'' the main protagonist [[HeroicMime Link]]'s grandmother falls ill soon after he departs his home island of Outset on his adventure, and by the time he returns later in the game she's barely coherent, doesn't seem to notice his presence, and is sitting in a chair, wrapped in a blanket, mumbling to herself in low tones. Using a [[OurFairiesAreDifferent bottled fairy on her]] ''instantly'' turns her back to normal.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

May also be an ImprobableAntidote. Compare to {{Panacea}}, InstantSedation. See also CPRCleanPrettyReliable. This is sometimes key to surviving the SelfPoisoningGambit.

Antidotes are even worse. Fictional antidotes are benevolent drugs that exactly reverse the effects of a poison. They may even visibly reverse their ravages, such as TaintedVeins. In RealLife, there are only two drugs that reverse each other's effects – and they are both deadly poisons. Antidotes are various drugs that help counteract some effects of a poison.

* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': Downplayed. In ''The Belgariad'', Garion creates a rather puny, lop-sided little flower to show Adara how magic works. Although Polgara investigates it at the time, she finds nothing special, and it's left to go its own way, spreading across the landscape as an unimpressive new species called Adara's Rose. In ''The Malloreon'', Zakath is poisoned with [[PerfectPoison thalot]], which has no antidote and destroys every cell of the body. With Cyradis' help, they realise that Adara's Rose is actually a universal cure, but it has to be inhaled to work, something Polgara overlooked. Using some seeds she still has left over, Belgarath is able to transform Zakath's bedroom into a forest of blooming vines. Although he instantly begins improving so that he will no longer die, it does take him several days to fully recover. However, it cures him so perfectly he's not even left with any of the neurological damage that was causing severe seizures.

* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': Downplayed. In ''The Belgariad'', Garion creates a rather puny, lop-sided little flower to show Adara how magic works. Although Polgara investigates it at the time, she finds nothing special, and it's left to go its own way, spreading across the landscape as an unimpressive new species called Adara's Rose. In ''The Malloreon'', Zakath is poisoned with [[PerfectPoison thalot]], which has no antidote and destroys every cell of the body. With Cyradis' help, they realise that Adara's Rose is actually a universal cure, but it has to be inhaled to work, something Polgara overlooked. Using some seeds she still has left over, Belgarath is able to transform Zakath's bedroom into a forest of blooming vines. Although he instantly begins improving so that he will no longer die, it does take him several days to fully recovery. However, it cures him perfectly he's not even left with any of the neurological damage that was causing severe seizures.

* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': Downplayed. In ''The Belgariad'', Garion creates a rather puny, lop-sided little flower to show Adara how magic works. Although Polgara investigates it at the time, she finds nothing special, and it's left to go its own way, spreading across the landscape as an unimpressive new species called Adara's Rose. In ''The Malloreon'', Zakath is poisoned with [[PerfectPoison thalot]], which has no antidote and destroys every cell of the body. With Cyradis' help, they realise that Adara's Rose is actually a universal cure, but it has to be inhaled to work, something Polgara overlooked. Using some seeds she still has left over, Belgarath is able to transform Zakath's bedroom into a forest of vines. Although he instantly begins improving so that he will no longer die, it does take him several days to fully recovery. However, it cures him perfectly he's not even left with any of the neurological damage that was causing severe seizures.

* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': In ''The Belgariad'', Garion creates a rather puny, lop-sided little flower to show Adara how magic works. Although Polgara investigates it at the time, she finds nothing special, and it's left to go its own way, spreading across the landscape as an unimpressive new species called Adara's Rose. In ''The Malloreon'', Zakath is poisoned with [[PerfectPoison thalot]], which has no antidote and destroys every cell of the body. With Cyradis' help, they realise that Adara's Rose is actually a universal cure, but it has to be inhaled to work, something Polgara overlooked. Using some seeds she still has left over, Belgarath is able to transform Zakath's bedroom into a forest of vines. Although he instantly begins improving so that he will no longer die, it does take him several days to fully recovery. However, it cures him perfectly he's not even left with any of the neurological damage that was causing severe seizures.

* Averted in ''Literature/TheMalloreon'' – it takes Zakath several days to recover from [[PerfectPoison thalot poisoning]].

* Averted in ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer'' were Wizard had to be {{Mercy Kill}}ed because it was too late for an antidote.

* ''LightNovel/ScrappedPrincess'' has Pacifica being poisoned, and her companions having to seek a cure. They first have to seek a doctor to tell them about the cure, most of the deadline is used up, yet this is only episode 5 so [[spoiler:Raquel is able to return from the ancient ruins with the herbs that can cure her.]]

** Averted in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' [[Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse novel]] "Foreign Foes" when the crew of the USS ''Enterprise'' and a Federation team find the grain on the planet Velex has healing properties. It turns out the grain is composed of tiny robots that can improve the health of individuals who consume the grain. However, it is soon discovered that the grain could be deadly to individuals with artificial implants or cause serious health issues at the minimum. The Hidran ambassador who ate some of the bread died when the grain caused his body to reject the breathing apparatus he required, and the grain caused Geordi LaForge's body to reject his visual implants. The grain even caused a severe programming malfunction in Data when he ate some of the grain in order to analyze it further. Later it was found that the grain was taxing to an individual's immune system if consumed over a long period so it never was a miracle cure.

** The cure-all nature of bacta is actually exploited by the villains in the ''Literature/XWingSeries''. Imperial forces create a SyntheticPlague, Krytos, which only infected non-human species and caused horrific deaths, but could be cured with bacta. This was an intentional property of the plague, as it meant that all of the New Republic's supplies of bacta were used to fight Krytos, causing massive shortages everywhere else and straining production, and inflaming tensions between humans and aliens. The good guys eventually solved the problem by creating a ''non''-Magic Antidote, rycla; while it only works on Krytos, and bacta is still more effective, rycla is ''exponentially'' cheaper to produce.

** Ditto the mysterious, powdered medicine that the [[IllGirl perpetually ill]] Densuke took. Despite his [[IncurableCoughOfDeath unspecified]], yet [[TakeOurWordForIt presumably]] lethal lifelong illness, all it took was one dose of the powder for him to wake up the next morning in full health.

* ''WebComic/GrrlPower'': Discussed in the strip [[https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-480-no-relation-to-captain-caveman/ No relation to Captain Caveman]]. Kat the werehare was nailed a few pages ago with a poison that's effectively paralyzed her. When Elsbeth gives her an antidote to keep the poison at bay until the were-healing kicks in, Kat questions it -doesn't she need to know which poison was used? Elspeth assures her it's a literally magical broad-spectrum antidote as she tucks the straw into Kat's mouth.

** [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion "The Christmas Invasion"]]: One minute the Doctor's sick enough to only have [[BizarreAlienBiology one heartbeat]], and the next he's sword-fighting the leader of an alien invasion force. The fact that the cure is apparently ''[[SpotOfTea tea]]'' is just the icing on the weirdness cake.

** The cure-all nature of bacta is actually exploited by the villains in the ''Literature/XWingSeries''. Imperial forces create a SyntheticPlague, Krytos, which only infected non-human species and caused horrific deaths, but could be cured with bacta. This was an intentional property of the plague, as it meant that all of the New Republic's supplies of bacta were used to fight Krytos, causing massive shortages everywhere else and straining production.

* Averted in ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' trilogy. Snow had to drink poison to kill a potential rival. While he was quickly able to get the antidote, he still has permanent mouth sores that cause him to constantly smell like blood. He has to wear genetically-modified roses to cover it up.

Almost always the finale of FindTheCure episodes.

** Subverted: Varsuvius gets hit by a poisoned arrow which penalizes his/her Strength. Elan [[ChekhovsSkill Neutralizes the Poison]]. That stops the Strength drain, but V doesn't get back what they'd already lost.

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Sakura creates an antidote to Sasori's poison that can be used both to cure someone after they've been poisoned, and remains in the body for three minutes after being dosed, leaving the imbiber immune to the poison for that duration. However, it doesn't repair damage already done by the poison.